Up to 60-plus days of striped bass harvest in the recreational striped bass fishery are on the chopping block for 2025, and you have until Tuesday, December 10, 2024 to provide your opinion on this new seasonal striper closure!
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) and its Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board (Board) is accepting public comment until 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, December 10 on options presented to the angling public for the very first time on Thursday, December 5 via webinar before an online crowd of over 400 stakeholders.
The turn-around of just three business days from the time of initial introduction of options until the final management deadline is a relatively new process for Commission management, but has been triggered in the striped bass fishery with the Board having discretion to make more immediate decisions outside the realm of public comment when they deem a management emergency (similar to how the original 28- to 31-inch striper slot was enacted for the 2023 season).
The relative “emergency” the Board is considering now is based on a recently updated stock assessment for striped bass in which fisheries managers believe there’s a less than 50% chance of meeting the rebuild target of 247 million pounds of spawning stock biomass (SSB) by the 2029 deadline date. According to the Commission, female SSB was estimated at 191 million pounds as of 2023, below the overfishing threshold of 197 million pounds and roughly 23% short of the rebuild target. While data shows the SSB is rebuilding and in an upward trajectory, the Board is considering a new round of reductions by as much as 14% to ensure that the stock not only continues to rebuild, but that there’s a 50% chance of meeting the precise SSB rebuild target by the 2029 deadline.
Among the suite of options presented to the public at last Thursday’s meeting were a series of “no harvest” striped bass closures, the length and timing of which are based on some of the various regions developed by the Board and its Technical Committee. For example one particular option would require a 47-day harvest closure on striped bass from Maine through Massachusetts in July and August (Wave 4) with the same amount of days removed from Rhode Island through North Carolina during November and December (Wave 6).
Yet another option developed by the Technical Committee and up for Board decision on December 16 is a 59-day harvest closure for Maine through New Hampshire in July and August (Wave 4) with equal 59-day harvest shutdown from Massachusetts through North Carolina during the November and December (Wave 6) fishery.
Since fisheries managers estimate that nearly 50% of the mortality in the recreational fishery comes from catch and release (9% release mortality rate), there are also regional options that reduce closure length in each wave and region through the use of no targeting closures where both catch and release fishing and harvest would be prohibited.
See options presented at the webinar below; for a full appendix of options being considered by the Board turn to page 99 of the PDF at this link https://asmfc.org/files/AtlStripedBassBoardMaterials_Dec2024.pdf
The Board will meet in-person and via webinar on Monday, December 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to consider changing 2025 management measures to increase the probability of rebuilding the stock by the 2029 deadline, with all public comments submitted by the Tuesday night deadline expected to be included in the Board’s materials for considering a final vote.
According to the ASMFC, the information presented on December 5th during the webinar will “provide the public with sufficient background information to inform the development and submission of public comment by December 10.” Just three business days later (Friday, Monday and Tuesday), and armed with that “sufficient background information” stakeholders in the recreational fishing community including anglers and business owners must provide written comments via email to comments@asmfc.org by 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, December 10.
You’ve heard the phrase, speak now or forever hold your peace? Well, that’s where we are now with the state of the striped bass fishery heading into the New Year; don’t hold your peace any longer, comments are due on Tuesday!
Learn more at the Atlantic Striped Bass Stock Assessment Update Overview.
Check out the Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board (Board) page for the December, 2024 deadline for final decision.
See the Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board Agenda for December 16, 2024 with full list of options beginning on page 99 of the PDF.
